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Templates & Instruction Files ​

Templates let you save and reuse instruction-file content across agents. Combined with the Clone Agent feature, you can quickly spin up new agents with pre-configured instructions and settings.

  • Claude agents use CLAUDE.md
  • Codex agents use AGENTS.md

Auto-Detect Instruction Files ​

When creating a new agent, Agent Monitor automatically detects whether the selected working directory already contains an instruction file for the chosen provider.

If found, you'll see a prompt offering to:

  • Load existing — Use the project's instruction file as the agent's instructions
  • Keep custom — Dismiss the prompt and write your own instructions

Detection is provider-aware and includes compatibility fallback (for example, a Codex agent can still load a directory that currently has CLAUDE.md, and vice versa). The detection happens via GET /api/directories/claude-md?path=...&provider=....

Managing Templates ​

Navigate to Templates in the nav bar to:

  • Use built-in templates: Agent Monitor auto-seeds OpenCLI Skill Starter and Karpathy Coding Guardrails on first run
  • Create: Click + New Template, enter a name and instruction content
  • Edit: Click the edit button on any template to modify it
  • Delete: Remove templates you no longer need

Using Templates ​

When creating a new agent:

  1. Click Load template... in the instruction-file section
  2. Select a template from the dropdown
  3. The template content is loaded into the editor
  4. Modify as needed before creating the agent

Live Editing ​

You can modify an agent's instruction file content at any time from the Chat view without restarting the agent.

Cloning Agents ​

The Clone button (visible on every agent card and in the chat header) creates a new agent pre-filled with:

  • Same working directory
  • Same provider (Claude Code / Codex)
  • Same flags and configuration
  • Same instruction-file content (CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md)

This is the fastest way to run a variation of an existing agent — clone it, adjust the prompt or flags, and launch. Cloning does not copy the conversation history; the new agent starts fresh.

Workflow: Template → Clone ​

A common pattern for reusable agent setups:

  1. Create a template with your standard instructions (e.g., "TypeScript coding standards")
  2. Create an agent, load the template into its instruction file, set the directory and flags
  3. Clone that agent whenever you need a fresh instance with the same setup

This gives you a library of reusable agent configurations without manually re-entering settings each time.

Template Tips ​

  • Create a base template with common instructions (coding style, testing requirements)
  • Create specialized templates for different task types (frontend, backend, testing)
  • Start from OpenCLI Skill Starter when the task may need web/browser/desktop automation via opencli
  • Start from Karpathy Coding Guardrails when you want the agent to bias toward clarification, simplicity, surgical diffs, and explicit verification
  • Templates are stored server-side and available to all users
  • Use Clone + Template together: template provides the instructions, clone replicates the full agent config